Windracers

A Southampton company building the ULTRA, an uncrewed cargo aircraft for delivering goods to remote places.

About Windracers

Windracers builds autonomous cargo aircraft. Its ULTRA is a fixed-wing, twin-engine uncrewed plane about 10 metres across, designed to carry roughly 100 kilograms or more over distances of up to around 1,000 kilometres, and to take off and land from short strips of grass, dirt or ice. It flies using the "Masterless" autopilot developed by sister company Distributed Avionics. The company says the aim is cheaper, lower-carbon cargo flights than with crewed aircraft.

Windracers says it was set up to help humanitarian agencies deliver supplies to communities cut off by emergencies, at lower cost than crewed flying. Its website says it aims to lead the next generation of air transportation through autonomous drones and lists its focus as safe, reliable, easy and good-value cargo drones for the "middle mile" of logistics. In 2024 it named five sectors: mail and parcels, humanitarian aid, medical, defence and environmental protection.

Windracers is based in Southampton and was founded in 2017. Its ULTRA was developed with the University of Southampton, and it works with the universities of Bristol and Sheffield, UKRI and Aerospace Cornwall. Trials have included Royal Mail flights in the Scottish islands, work with the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defence, three aircraft assembled in the UK for the RAF Air Cadets, and British Antarctic Survey flights from Rothera station. A May 2026 article says it was selected as a supplier for a UK package of drones for Ukraine, which shows it is still active.

Stephen Wright is founder and executive chairman, and former Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson became group chief executive in 2024; he has also worked at Apple, lastminute.com and Ocado. He described Windracers as the "low-cost champion of autonomous aviation". We did not find a culture or values page, a headcount or staff quotes, so we cannot say what working there is like. In 2024 Thompson said his first priorities were product development, raising funds and global growth, and the company opened an AI centre with Purdue University in the United States for running uncrewed aircraft at scale.

We found no graduate scheme, internship, apprenticeship or live vacancy list. Its university links with Southampton, Bristol and Sheffield suggest engineering, avionics and software degrees are relevant. Check the company website for openings, and also look at its sister company Distributed Avionics for autopilot and software roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'An uncrewed fixed-wing plane for freight and supplies.', 'title': 'ULTRA cargo aircraft'}
• {'desc': 'The Masterless autopilot flies without a remote pilot.', 'title': 'Autonomous flight systems'}
• {'desc': 'Mail, medical, humanitarian, polar and defence trials.', 'title': 'Trials and operations'}

Key facts

• Based in Southampton, founded 2017
• Antarctic flights with the British Antarctic Survey in 2023 and 2024
• Three ULTRA aircraft for RAF Air Cadets (2024)
• Named as a supplier to a UK drone package for Ukraine (April 2026)

Website: windracers.com